You of All People
by Degrassi Nonsense
Summary: I know this was supposed to be a one shot, but people wanted more so i provided it! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I just wanted to make something up. This idea random popped into my head today and I thought it could be pretty good. Drew/Zane friendship. No Slash (at least not between them). One-shot or more if you want to. Hope you guys like it! PLEASE review.

Enjoy!

You Of All People

Zane Park. Degrassi football kicker, hallway hottie, and gay. Most people think that people of the LGBT had a bit of a hard time, but they have never thought that about Zane. They thought Zane was perfect. Likeable, trustworthy, smart, a smile that could make girls faint. But all that is FAR from valid.

Zane knew that no one was perfect, especially himself. Almost every day after school, he'd go home and lock himself in his bathroom. Inside he adds one new scar to his forearm. Yes, Zane cut himself. All of the lessons that he taught in LGBT meetings worked, but he never used them himself. He refuses to try. All he wants is for everyone else to be happy.

No one really looked at his arms, and if they did, they'd be staring at the sleeves from his jacket. Before they broke up, Zane hesitated to answer all of Riley's 'Aren't you hot?' questions. Riley was the love of his life and he knew it. Riley had told Zane a million times how much he loved him, in fact he still does occasionally. But Zane found it hard to believe. He felt abandoned, like Riley just threw him out like yesterday's trash. At the same time, he had realized his impatience, putting more stress on himself due to self-blaming. No fooling, Zane was a mess.

He had just got out of what felt like the longest day of school, occasionally flashing that fake, yet believable smile of his. He decided not to go home just yet, he needed some air. It was right after hockey practice so it was already nighttime. He walked over to his favorite park and sat on a bench. Luckily, no one was there, so he started to cry. It's not like someone would notice, but then again, he didn't want people to notice. Blowing his cover was something he didn't want.

"What's your problem princess?" he heard behind him. "Did the little queer get his heart broken?"

Zane turned around to see three men. They were all taller than him, and bigger than him. Zane got up and started to slowly back away.

"Guys please. I don't want any trouble."

"Of course you don't." he said, putting an arm around him. "We just want fagboy to be happy"

"I have to go." Zane said, starting to walk away. One of the guys snatched him by the hood of his jacket.

"Not so fast!" he said "You're not getting away that easy."

Then, Zane felt a cold fist deck him in the face. it was overpowering and Zane fell to the floor. Then, the three men started to stomp him while he was down.

"Feelin' better fagboy?" One of the men shouted.

By the end of the beating, Zane was battered, bruised, and bleeding. He could barely move. They had taken his shoes, socks, and his jacket.

"I think Mr. Gay is feeling a lot happier. Let's go guys." One of the men said with a laugh.

Zane felt hopeless. All he could do was curl into a ball and sob. About five minutes later, he heard someone walking over to him.

"Hello?" the voice said, walking closer. "Are you ok?"

Drew was walking through the park after a fight with his mother when he saw some random barefoot kid crying on the floor. He didn't look homeless so he decided to help.

"Hello?" he said quietly.

The body started to tremble and he began to sob harder "Please don't hurt me." He said.

The voice sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't quite figure out who it was.

"Are you ok?" he asked, turning him over and seeing who it was. He was in shock. "Zane! Jesus… What happened?"

"They…. They…" he couldn't finish his sentence and started to cry even harder.

Drew didn't know what to do. Zane wasn't really a close friend of his, but he couldn't just leave him there.

"Shhh it's ok Zane. Come on, I'll take you to my house." He said, trying to help Zane to his feet.

"AH!" Zane screamed in pain, falling to the ground.

Drew picked him up (he was surprisingly light) and carried him on his back to his car. Drew sat him in the front seat and started driving home.

"Do you know who did this to you? I swear to God I'll-"

"I don't know." Zane told him, not really knowing why Drew said that. The rest of the ride home was silent.

When Drew got to his house, he took Zane and carried him out through the back door. He helped him into his room and put him down on his bed.

"Let me get you some ice man. Your eye looks pretty bad." Drew said, walking out of the room.

On his way back, Adam caught him halfway down the hallway.

"What's the ice for? And who were you talking to in there?" he asked

Drew lowered his voice into a whisper. "Don't tell mom, but um… Zane's in there.

"Zane? Why?... wait, are you two…"

"What? No! I just… I found him."

"Then why is he here if you just ran into him?"

"I think you should see for yourself."

So Adam and Drew both walked in and Adam couldn't control the gasp that escaped his lips.

"Zane! Oh my God what happened?" he yelled/whispered.

He didn't say anything. Tears just fell from his eyes.

"I'll talk to him, just go back to bed." Drew said.

Adam nodded and walked back to his room. Drew walked over to Zane and sat on the bed.

"Talk to me Zane. What happened?" Drew pleaded. Drew didn't exactly know why he was so concerned. He barely knew Zane, but for some reason seeing him in such a horrific state infuriated him.

"I… I was… bashed." He said with a sob escaping.

Drew put a hand over his mouth and gasped. He didn't think anything like _this_ could happen to Zane. Drew knew that Zane was gay, and was perfectly fine with it. It had seemed like everyone was perfectly fine with it, so Drew never really expected anything bad to happen to Zane. Maybe a little harassment here and there, but _this_ was a bit extreme.

"Zane I'm so sorry." He said, angry. "Are you sure you don't know who did this? I ASSURE you I'll-"

"I don't know Drew. I swear." He said. Zane then began to wonder. Why did Zane sound so important to him? They both never really talked at school. They were basically friends through mutual friends.

"Why do you care anyways?" Zane asked.

"Why do I care?" Drew asked, slightly hurt that Zane would think he wouldn't care. "Zane, you just got brutally beaten by some ignorant jackasses that know absolutely nothing, why WOULDN'T I care?"

"Well, no one really does." Zane said. Drew raised an eyebrow and Zane explained. "I'm not saying no one likes me or whatever. It's just that people seem to just judge me just by looking at me. All my friends, my family, Riley, they all think nothings wrong with me just because I'm Zane, so they just don't ask. So technically, no one really cares."

Drew felt really bad. He never expected this from Zane. He couldn't help but feel guilty because he realized that he was actually one of those people that didn't really care about Zane. Well, sure he cared in a way, but he felt as if Zane's life was perfect so he didn't really need to, but he was totally wrong. Drew looked down at Zane's arm and noticed his scars.

"Oh my God Zane! They cut you?"

Zane just shook his head. "See? That's the crap I'm talking about!" Drew looked confused. "They didn't do that. I did."

"Wha-… Why man?"

"Well Riley was pretty much the only person I could confide to. Now that he's gone…"

"Gone?"

"He dumped me a couple weeks ago."

"Oh… I'm sorry man. Sucks."

"No use being sorry now. Once I leave, everything's going back to normal." He said, sitting up. "You can just forget this happened and-" Zane was interrupted when Drew wrapped his arms around him. He winced out of pain, but he didn't reject it.

"Zane, I'm so sorry man. I do care about you. And now I feel like an idiot for not even trying to talk to you, or anything." Drew let go of him. "If you need me, don't hesitate ok?"

"Drew you don't need-"

"I know, but I want to, man."

Zane felt a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders. He finally had someone go to for anything. Though he didn't really expect it to be Drew, he was happy that it was.

"Drew…" Zane said. "I thought they were gonna kill me." He said, breaking down.

Drew had an immediate flashback of what he endured during Spring Break. He knew exactly how Zane felt. Being completely helpless while people just wail on him. Except Drew was beaten for what he did, he couldn't imagine how humiliating it must have been for being beaten because of who he was. Drew pulled Zane into another hug . His own eyes began to tear up as well.

"I'll make sure they'll never hurt you again ok?" Drew said, tightening the embrace.

The only thing Zane could say was "Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Remember when I said this would be a one shot? Yeah well I got some requests and thought I should sit down and write more. This might be a 2-3 shot. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Drew woke up the next morning with a yawn and a wide stretch. He was extremely exhausted after last night. He had spent most of his night with Zane. It took him until 3 to finally go to sleep, but Drew stayed with him the entire time.

Drew got dressed and started to brush his teeth when he saw Zane limping back into his room. He finished and decided to go check on his friend before he went to school.

"Knock knock." Drew called out from behind the door.

"Yeah." Zane called back.

Drew walked in and Zane gave him a half smile. "How are you feeling, man?"

"Better. A lot better actually." He said.

"Do you think you'll be going to school today?"

"I don't think I'll feel that much better." He said.

"You gonna just stay here then?" Drew asked. "I told my mom you're here. She doesn't mind really."

"No, thanks but no." he said, getting that look that he had last night. "I think I'll just go home."

"I can drive you if you want. We have time."

"No thanks, I'm-"

"There's no way your walking home by yourself, Zane." Drew told him.

"Ok, fine. Just let me get dressed."

Zane walked out of the room with the same clothes as he had the night before, or at least what he had left. Drew let him wear a pair of his old shoes and found a jacket for him to cover his scars.

They both got into the car. "I already know where you live. I think I went to one of those LGBT meetings with Adam at your house."

"Really? I hadn't noticed…" Zane said. "Why'd you go?

"I wanted to understand what it's like for you guys, you know?" he said. "I've never been homophobic really, but I was never above making any puns or whatever. I said something to my brother that made him really upset. He took me to one of your meetings and I finally started to get it. I had been so unaware of the amount of hate and prejudice that I was sending. Sure it was involuntary, but it was still uncalled for."

"Glad I could be of assistance." Zane said, actually smiling this time.

About ten minutes later, they finally arrived at Zane's house. Drew helped him out the car and walked him to the door.

"So um… take it easy buddy, ok?" he told him.

"I'll try to." Zane said. Then, out of nowhere, he hugged him. "Thank you, Drew… so much."

Drew hugged back and said, "You're welcome. Just call if you need anything ok?" He turned around to walk away but was interrupted by Zane.

"You know, Drew…" he said. "For an arrogant jock, you aren't so bad." Drew lightly blushed and walked back to his car.

The drive to Degrassi was a short one, but with Zane on Drew's mind, he felt as if it were an hour long. All Drew could think about was Zane's safety. Ever since he found him the night before, he mentally made it his duty to keep Zane out of harm at all times. In a way, he was sort of his body guard.

Drew finally arrived at the school. It was just a regular day until about third period. Riley randomly decided to talk to him.

"Hey." He whispered. "Have you seen Zane today?"

Drew had to stop and think before answering. He was contemplating whether or not he should tell him about the incident the night before. He wasn't one to spill secrets or anything, but he felt like Riley had a right to know what's been going on.

"He's not here today." Drew told him. "Hey Ri, can I ask you something?"

"Sure what's up?"

"When's the last time you talked to Zane?" he asked.

"Umm, I don't know, a couple days ago?"

"No I mean when the last time you _really_ talked to him?"

"Umm…" he stopped to think. "I don't really remember."

"Well, I think you should." He said. "Like, soon."

"Umm… why?" he asked.

"Well, I found him at the park last night. He, um… He got beat up really bad." He told him.

"What?" Riley yelled, getting a weird look from everyone in the class. He mouthed a 'sorry' to Ms. Dawes and whispered, "Do you know why?"

"I think you can figure that one out yourself."

"You don't mean…" Drew nodded. "Oh my God… how is he?"

"He's battered, but he'll be ok in about a week or two. "

"How could something like that happen to him?" he said, putting his head down.

That comment made Drew slightly angry. Now he understood what Zane meant.

"What makes you say that?"

"I… I don't know. It's Zane. Things like this don't happen to Zane."

That made Drew even more angry, but not at Riley. At himself. He had realized how ignorant he was sounding toward Zane and the fact that almost everyone he knew treated him like that. He felt like a total jackass.

"Come on, we need to talk." Drew said, grabbing Riley's arm and taking him outside.

"Boys!" Ms. Dawes called out, but Drew didn't answer back.

"What the hell's your problem, Torres?" Riley snapped.

"You are." He said. "Look, I don't want to start anything with you, but you should know how much of a jerk you and everyone else are being toward him.

"What do you mean?"

"Riley, I get that you love Zane, but you shouldn't act as if Zane's life is just a walk in the park. I know he always looks happy, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have any skeletons in his closet. Zane is just a regular teenager with problems, just like everyone else. So stop judging like a book cover and start treating him more like a human being for God's sake."

Riley looked down at the ground, almost embarrassed.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm making you mad, but this treatment is really hurting him. Especially yours." Drew told him. "He knows how impatient he was with coming out and whatnot and he's sorry about that, but dude, he really misses you."

"Does he really?"

"Yeah, he really does. He felt like you were the only person he knew that he could actually confide to, and when you guys broke up, you broke the poor kid's heart. He's done with being impatient. I'm pretty sure you're all he wants."

"I have to talk to him. I have to go and-"

"Whoa, dude. Have you forgotten we were at school? I'll just give you a ride afterward ok?"

"Ok."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Is Zane here?" Drew asked Ms. Park.

"He's up in his room. Go ahead." She told them. They both started for his room, but Drew was stopped by Zane's mom.

"Thanks for bringing him home last night." She whispered.

"My pleasure."

They both walked up the stairs to Zane's room. When Drew opened the door, Riley let out a silent 'oh my God' at the sight of Zane. He was asleep, but he was shirtless and Riley saw all the bruises all over his body and the scars on his arms. Riley pointed at Zane's arm and Drew sadly nodded.

"I'll be outside" Drew whispered, walking out of the room. He sat at the chair next to the door and listened in on them.

"Zane…" Riley whispered, lightly shaking him.

"*yawn* Riley?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"Drew drove me, he's right outside. You know, I was going to come for a completely different reason and I'll get to it later, but I need to get this off my chest while it's there." He said. "Zane, I had no idea how bad I was treating you. I didn't mean to be like that toward you. You just always looked happy so I never bothered to ask, and it was wrong for me to do that. I drove you to even abuse yourself. I am so sorry for hurting you. If I had known I was being that way…"

"It's ok, Riley. I accept your apology."

"No it's not ok. I've pretty much neglected you since the day we've met and-"

"Riley, really it's ok. The fact that you understand is good enough for me." Zane said, smiling. "So what were you coming here for?"

"I wanted to tell you… I love you. I love you so much Zane. Breaking up with you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. When you left, I cried for hours. I had made the mistake of letting my one true love slip away from me. I swear, if you give me another chance, things will be different."

"What do you mean 'different'?" Zane asked.

"Well, I came out to my parents last night." Riley told him. Zane's eyes widened.

"Really?" he exclaimed. "Are they taking it well?"

"Not really, but I don't care. They'll get over it someday. All I know is that I love you."

That trademark grin spread across his face and he said "I love you too."

Then, a knock came at the door. "Riley, do you still need a ride?" Drew called out.

"Actually, I think I'll stay here. Thanks for the ride, bro." he called back.

Drew lightly smiled and walked back to his car. During his walk back, something was upsetting him. Something about Riley. Riley was one of Drew's good friends, but he couldn't help feeling this way toward him.

Jealousy.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey everyone! Just gonna say that this will be the last chapter of this story. I glad you guys have liked my story. Don't worry, I'll think of something else soon. There will be a twist in this story, and all the mentioned characters will be satisfied in the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

It's been about three months since Drew had found Zane in the park and everything seemed to be going back to normal. Zane and Riley were back together, Zane's wounds have healed, and he was finally truly happy. Everyone was, except for one person.

Drew.

It was like Drew and Zane switched places; Zane was the happy one, and Drew was the one displaying a façade. Drew would always appear to be happy, but on the inside, he was upset and, most of all, lonely. There was only one person that could halt his loneliness, and that person was Zane.

Drew had discovered his bisexuality, and was actually perfectly fine with it. He was waiting a little while to come out at school though. Maybe he could do that during his senior year. A person staring wasn't something he needed, everyone had just forgotten about the Spring Break incident.

It was about the end of the year, and Zane and Drew were assigned as partners for their junior project (Note: Zane and Riley are both juniors in this). They had become nothing short of best friends these past few months, so this project could be fun for the both of them. They decided to work at Zane's house since Drew's was being fumigated.

"So how are you and Riley doing?" Drew asked him.

"We're… we're good." Zane stammered.

"Uh-oh. What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Come on Zane, you can tell me."

"No, I mean that's the thing. Nothing. I mean… Riley's great and all but… Love's just drifting away. It's been a little boring, and I think he feels the same way."

"Oh. So are you going to break it off with him?" Drew asked, secretly excited.

"I don't know…" He trailed. "Can we just finish? I don't really feel like talking about this right now."

"Ok, that's fine."

About twenty minutes later, both of the boys were exhausted.

"Can we take a break, man? My arms are killing me." Drew said.

"We're almost done, so I guess we can stop for a few minutes." He said to him. "Are you hungry? I can order a pizza. You like sausage?"

"I'm vegetarian" Drew said, smirking.

"Oh really? I'm sure those hot wings you shoveled down your throat last week would speak otherwise." Zane giggled, getting a pillow thrown at him. "Ow."

About 20 minutes later, they were both chowing down and Zane decided to ask Drew a question. A question that had been on his mind for months.

"Drew, can I ask you something? Something kind of serious?" he asked.

"Shoot" Drew said back.

"Feel free to not answer, but um… what happened to you during Spring Break?" he asked. "There's been several different rumors going around. I just wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth."

Drew's smile slowly faded and he began to feel uneasy. He really hated talking about that incident. Now that school was almost over he had more or less gotten over it. Still, it was difficult for him to talk about.

"Um…" he started. "I… I…"

"You know what, that's ok. We don't have to discuss it. Sorry I brought it up." Zane said.

"No, no it's ok. You're pretty much my best friend now; I guess you should hear it from me." He said, and began to talk about it. "Ok, so I went to that Keke Palmer concert and I saw Bianca with her ex. I was incredibly pissed, so I decided to leave. I was walking through an alley and I heard Bianca screaming for help. When I got to her, I'm pretty sure he was going to rape her. I fought him off of her, and he almost had me beat, but Bianca hit him over the head with a brick and we both ran off. The next day, we read in the newspaper that he was, well, dead."

"Holy crap." Zane said.

"Yeah. Bianca was already on probation, so it would've really ruined her life if the cops had found her. I took the fall for her. I didn't get into any legal trouble. But Anson's gang found out and… and they beat me up. I've pretty much had PTSD since then."

"PTSD?"

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"Oh… Oh gosh dude I'm sorry."

"Thanks Z." That was Drew's nickname for him. "I… I was so scared. I had nightmares every night for weeks. I had gotten over it but… then he shot Adam and…" Drew felt tears sting his eyes. He got emotional every time he even thought about that fateful day.

"Drew, it's fine. You don't have to expand anymore." He said, rubbing his back. "Trust me, I know how you feel."

Drew felt a tear roll down his face. He had promised himself he wouldn't cry about it anymore, but with Zane, he felt like he could be as open with his emotions as he wanted. He leaned into Zane's shoulder and began to just let it all go.

It was something that Drew really needed. Drew had his emotions bottled up inside of him for a while now. Every time he was about to cry, he'd force himself not to. He wanted to just feel comforted, not alone. His other best friend, KC, had been off taking care of his kid, and Dave was to busy running after Alli. He didn't want to cry with Adam. It wasn't that he didn't love him; he just wanted to be strong for him. But now that he had Zane, he could finally let his emotions run free.

"Drew, don't cry." Zane said, wiping his tears.

Drew started to look deeply into his eyes and started to lean in. Their lips connected for about half a second and Zane pulled back.

"Drew, what are you doing?" Zane said.

"I… Oh my God Zane, I'm so sorry. I'll… I'll just go, we can finish tomorrow." He stammered, practically sprinting out of the house. Zane didn't believe in cheating; he felt like no one ever deserved it. But Zane couldn't help but like it.

~Later~

It had been a couple hours since Drew had left, and Riley had just arrived.

"Hey Ri." He said.

"Hi…" he said, somewhat upset.

" Are you ok?"

"Yeah… We need to talk."

"Um… Ok"

Riley sat down next to Zane and took a deep breath. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just rip the bandage off now." He said. "Zane, you are one of the greatest guys I know. We've had great times together and I really hope that doesn't have to change, but I just don't feel it anymore.

"You're breaking up with me?" Zane asked.

"Zane, please don't be mad. I'm sorry."

"Riley, is there someone else?" Zane asked.

"I didn't cheat on you, but… yes." Riley said, looking down. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Ri. Really it is."

"Are you sure? I mean, can we still be friends?"

Zane smiled. "Sure" he said, playfully punching him the arm.

Riley took a huge sigh of relief. "Oh gosh. Thank you for not being mad." He said, pulling Zane into a hug. Then, they heard a car blow its horn.

"That's my ride. Thanks for understanding, Zane. I'll see you soon, ok?" Zane waved at him goodbye.

Riley climbed into the small car. "How'd it go?" the driver asked.

"Better than I expected." He answered.

"So, is Zane ok?"

"Yeah, he actually is." He said, "Thanks for driving me, babe."

"You're just lucky I love you enough to drive at this time of night." He said.

"I must really be lucky. Riley said, kissing him. "Thanks Peter."

~Meanwhile, back at Zane's house~

Zane wasn't exactly sad about Riley breaking up with him. It wouldn't be the first time, or the second, but he was perfectly fine with it. Zane loved Riley, and probably always will, but it would never go past friendship.

Zane felt a little lonely and decided to call Drew. He wanted to talk to him about that incident that happened earlier.

Drew was laying down in his bed when he felt his phone buzz. He saw the name "Zane" flash on his screen and he cringed. He felt like Zane was going to call just to chew him out about earlier. He felt like he deserved it, so he answered. "He- Hello?"

"Hey Drew. I need to talk to you. Can you come over?"

"Um… ok."

Millions of things were going through Drew's head. He had no idea of what he was in store for him when he got to his house. When he finally arrived, he took a deep breath and knocked on the door, expecting the worst.

"Hi Drew." He said, letting him in. "Take a seat."

"Hi." He nervously said.

"So, I wanted to talk to you about… well, you know."

'Crap' Drew thought. Here we go.

"Look, Drew. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable or anything, it's just… since when have you liked guys?"

"I… I don't know. I guess I figured it out after saving you."

"Ah… I see." Zane said.

"Look, Zane. I'm sorry for kissing you, I had no right. I should've never tried to make you cheat on Riley. It's ok if you're mad or something."

"The only reason I didn't kiss back was because I was with Riley."

"I know and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- Wait. Was?" Drew asked.

"He just broke up with me." Zane said.

"Oh… Oh God, dude I'm sorry. Are you ok? I mean-" His sentence was cut short as Zane kissed him out of the blue. Drew was somewhat surprised at first. He didn't expect it at all.

When they finally broke free Drew said. "Um… what was that?"

"Well… I was thinking we could try that kiss again. The last one seemed… sketchy."

Drew blushed to the point of resembling Mars. "Oh… well, I guess you're right." He said, pulling Zane into another kiss. "Maybe we should finish our project while I'm here." He said.

Zane gave him a weird look.

"Well, we have until Friday." Drew said.

"Yeah, it was boring anyways." Zane said.


End file.
